Austin

4:55 pm

Sat July 23, 2011

Planetarium Hosts Space Day

The Austin Planetarium says they are celebrating the old successes of the space shuttle era and the new breakthroughs to come.

Photo Courtesy of the Austin Planetarium

Austin Planetarium hosted an Austin Space Day event to honor the end of the space shuttle era. The shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth on Thursday, capping the program's final mission.

Texas has played a large role in NASA’s history. Austin Planetarium director Torvald Hessel said he isn’t worried about citizens losing interest in space missions.

“ [From] the kids, parents and scientists that I talk to, there is so much innate interest in science, astronomy, engineering and also human space flight,” Hessel said. "I really see this as a new opportunity."

The Austin Planetarium said Space Day was meant to provide kids an interactive and visual aspect of science, since Austin does not have a permanent planetarium or science museum.